ITV and YouTube miss out on Susan Boyle ad revenue

by Jacquie Bowser, Brand Republic 23-Apr-09, 11:30

LONDON - ITV and YouTube have reportedly missed out on over a million pounds in ad revenue after they failed to reach an agreement regarding which ads to sell against clips of Susan Boyle, the 'Britain's Got Talent' singing sensation who has amassed roughly 100m views on the video-sharing site.

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The broadcaster has reportedly blocked any ads from being run against clips of Boyle, the 47-year-old Scottish sensation, while it negotiates special terms with YouTube that will allow it to play pre-roll ads on the videos.

However, YouTube dislikes pre-roll ads and generally uses text ads and some overlay advertising which appear at the bottom of the screen while the video is playing.

Ben McOwen Wilson, the director of online for ITV, told TimesOnline: "We don't want to be part of YouTube's standard terms and conditions, because content like Susan Boyle is unique."

His boss, executive chairman Michael Grade, has been highly critical of online video sites.

Last November, Grade told the IBC technology conference: "The day that Google or Joost or any of these people start investing £1bn a year in UK content is the day I'll start to be worried.

"They're all parasites, they just live off our content is what they do. As long as we can create the content, the content is the keys to the castle for us going forward."

ITV and YouTube have so far failed to reach an agreement on Boyle, which has cost millions in lost revenue as, depending on what country the viewer is in, YouTube advertisers pay between $20 and $35 or between £20 and £35 for every 1,000 views of a video.

It has been viewed more than 40m times since it was uploaded on April 11.

However there are dozens more Susan Boyle videos posted on YouTube that have also racked up millions of views.

Comments

Kevin Gordon - 23/04/2009

Once again, the artist pays at the expense of talentless vultures. There has to be a better way.

peter lynex-hopkins - 23/04/2009

She's good, no doubt about it. And I'm pleased someone with talent has got through the mire of human wastage that adorns Simon Cowell's talentless talent shows. But hey, I heard a busker singing in the street today just as bloody good. I gave her a quid!